


Ways to Say I Love You

by OveliaGirlHaditRight



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: A bit weird, And a dumb The Cursed Child reference because I couldn't stop myself, Books and movie canon, F/M, Gift for BlueRosesBurnBlue, Goes throughout the years, It's been a while since I've read HP guys, Oneshot, Some post-canon in there too
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-29
Updated: 2020-07-29
Packaged: 2021-03-05 23:01:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,069
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25593205
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/OveliaGirlHaditRight/pseuds/OveliaGirlHaditRight
Summary: A Romione drabble.
Relationships: Hermione Granger/Ron Weasley
Comments: 3
Kudos: 9





	Ways to Say I Love You

**Author's Note:**

  * For [BlueRosesBurnBlue](https://archiveofourown.org/users/BlueRosesBurnBlue/gifts).



> A bit weird, I’ll admit, and somewhat inspired by the Leo and Calypso story “with your heartbeat slowing down” by greenconverses on FFN.
> 
> Liz, you once said I should write more Harry Potter… so I hope you enjoy this. Especially since I know how super into Harry Potter you are:)

Hermione first noticed it, when she reluctantly Petrificus Totalused Neville as he tried to stop them from getting into the vault their first year: Ron seemed to have particular feelings about that spell. Or perhaps it was just her using it. Hermione wasn’t sure.

But one way or another, when Ron said to her, “You’re a little scary. You know that? Brilliant, but scary,” with both awe and the slightest tinge of fear in his voice, that the subject of this spell might come up again. And so, it did… but not exactly in the way the witch had been expecting.

…

“…What’s Morse Code?” Ron asked one day in year four, while he, Harry, and Hermione were trying to think of some Muggle items that could allow Harry to breathe underwater.

And as Hermione paused, in reading a book about how whales had once had feet, she oddly couldn’t help feeling this was about when she’d used Petrificus Totalus on Neville years ago. This wasn’t actually the first time Ron had asked about the subject, after all. He had in year one, after that event… for some reason thinking that Hermione had wanted to tap in Morse Code on the unconscious Neville.

“It’s a way that Muggles learned to talk in secret, usually for espionage. And partly, it can be done by tapping in a certain rhythm—like you suspected before—but you’d have to tap and drag for the ‘dah.’” Hermione supplied, as she now used her wand to try and see if Harry using “Accio” in the Triwizard Tournament, to get an item from very far away, would be a bad idea

And Hermione saw that it was, as she sat in the Gryffindor common room and tried to summon one of her books to her—that she’d left in the library earlier—that it would, in fact, be a horrible plan. Her Astronomy book hit poor Parvati on the head as she came through the door. And the witch glared at Hermione for it, since she was the only one carrying her wand at the moment and was clearly the culprit

“I’m so sorry, Parvati!” Hermione exclaimed, as Ron ever so slightly laughed. Hermione glared at him “I’m trying to help Harry with the Triwizard tournament… and I won’t be using that spell for this Task again.”

Seeming appeased, Parvati found her sister and headed towards the bedrooms with her, before anyone could do or say anything else. Hermione did imagine they going to talk bad about her now. But she quite deserved it, didn’t she?

After that, Hermione didn’t figure out what Ron had been asking about Morse Code for. Harry came back in—from where he’d apparently been talking with Dobby—and the focus was on him again. And then Ron got mad at Harry, and there was that dreadful stuff with the Yule Ball…

So, Hermione didn’t even remember that Ron had a strange affinity for Petrificus Totalus, until…

…

“Petrificus Totalus!” Hermione shouted, as she stunned one of the Death Eaters who had found them in this Muggle-owned coffee shop.

And then, before she knew it, Ron was suggesting they should kill the man! And Hermione was… frightened of this new side of him. Perhaps even more than Ron had been of her, when she’d used the spell she just had on Neville: something that wasn’t a pleasant thought to have. So Hermione was thrilled when Harry suggested she just take the Death Eater’s memory. And Hermione did use the “Oblivate” spell on him. But she had to pause and breathe before she did, in remembering how she’d recently made her own parents forget about her.

It was a little while after that—but before Ron left the trio for a while—that Hermione’s favorite redhead brought up the subject of Morse Code once again, as well as what had happened at the coffee shop.

“You probably think I should have just left it at Petrificus Totalus, huh? Instead of suggesting… that we kill that man. That way we could have tapped Morse Code all over his shoulders and humiliated him that way. And I’ll take humiliated Death Eater over wanting to murder one, any day.”

Hermione laughed lightly, testing the waters. Because even though Ron sounded jovial and kidding here, she wanted to be sure. "Ron, what is it with you and drawing conclusions between those two things?”

Unfortunately, Ron didn’t answer the question right away… and Hermione didn’t know why. What? Did he think she was insulting his intelligence by what she’d just asked? But later… he would. And it would end up being one of the sweetest things she’d ever heard.

…

Years later… after the Battle of Hogwarts and after the two were happily married—and _trying_ to enjoy some time together while sadly visiting Ron’s great-aunt Muriel—Ron finally had this to say about it all: “So… my explanation for the Petrificus Totalus and Morse Code thing… I read those books about how to woo a witch… and it said to do something personal for her, that no one else would do. So I thought that you, a Muggle-born, might appreciate me tapping ‘I love you’ on your shoulder in Morse Code… But that wasn’t all of it. At first, I thought Morse Code was an easy thing, and you and Harry might bond and happily tap on a Ron who was so stupid, he’d surely get Petrificus Totalus easily.”

“Ron, that is so sweet!” And Hermione beamed at the man she loved, as she scooted closer to him on the big, pink chair that they were both currently occupying. “…But also so sad, that you thought so little of yourself.”

“I guess that kind of thinking is to be expected of the former Auror become joke shop owner, huh?” And Hermione was about to protest all of that, before Ron held up a hand and said, “…Sorry. I’m really hating on myself for no reason here. I really am okay. And I know I’m lucky enough to have your love forever. I just thought you finally deserved an explanation, is all… But speaking of Muggle things, would you like to finally master skipping stones?” 

Hermione grinned, as she thought about how she was going to write on Ron that she loved him tonight. “Let’s!” And so, the two gladly did some Muggle-related things, at the Pureblood supremist’s house.


End file.
